Well, I've finished the AS sweater, but not like I had originally planned.  As they say in sewing "As you sew, so shall ye rip", and after nine years of this project holding me hostage, I finally had enough.  As the work was progressing, I realized that a couple of the color substitutions were dead wrong and I was not happy.  Rather than wasting any more energy, I have removed the project from my needles.  Now to find something to do with all that wool.